


Echoes

by SongOfTheBadWolf



Category: Gallifrey (Big Finish Audio)
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-11
Updated: 2017-06-11
Packaged: 2018-11-12 20:27:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,167
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11169456
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SongOfTheBadWolf/pseuds/SongOfTheBadWolf
Summary: After the destruction of the Moros, forgotten timelines still haunt the four who lived them.





	Echoes

**Author's Note:**

> spoilers for Enemy Lines!

 

So. Braxiatel is back on Gallifrey.

Narvin is not happy about this. He's glad that Brax is alive, obviously, but he also _did_ let them believe he was dead for ages and is now being annoyingly enigmatic as per usual. Leela's uneasy too, and despite the good circumstances, Romana can tell that Leela doesn't trust Brax as much as she used to. Which, then, means it's up to Romana.

She goes to meet with Brax after speaking with Leela, the day after they returned from the Moros. When he turns to face her he seems less... _tired_ , if she could call it that. Less worried, in a way, too.

And he _apologizes._

Romana hesitates. "I have to admit, when you said you had something important to discuss, I wasn't expecting this."

"Whatever my reasons, I should have returned much sooner than I did."

"Why didn't you?"

"At first, I didn't know how. It became clear that I was needed in the time where I had landed, and I met an old - or new - friend. That part of my life had already been set into motion. After that..."

He pauses, and Romana can tell he's considering his words carefully. "After that, I made choices that I know you would not approve of."

He holds up a hand to stop the questions she's already forming, and despite her better judgement, she simply listens.

"As for the details, that is something I will not tell you, no matter how you ask. As of now, this is the first time in my life I do not know what lies in my future. Not here, not at the Collection. And I intend to make the most of that."

"Can I trust you?"

"Would you believe me if I said yes?"

"...No."

"Good. Mutual understanding is more practical than trust, anyway."

Romana actually laughs. "I wouldn't try telling Leela or Narvin that."

He smiles slightly. "Ah, how things have changed."

Braxiatel gestures to the window and she follows, looking out over Gallifrey. "Now that you're no longer president, how does that feel?"

"Leela just asked me the same question. Freeing, I suppose. I still intend to run the agency with the same dedication, of course, but... it's a relief, not making decisions for the entire planet anymore. After so long." She pauses. "Actually, there's a point. How long has it been for you?"

"I don't know."

She raises an eyebrow at this.

"Certain... events, I believe, were recently corrected. I no longer know for sure exactly how much of my past life remains."

"I take it you won't tell me what that means if I ask."

He smiles.

"What about you?" she says. "Is Livia considering you for Chancellor?"

"I doubt it. With my sudden return, that would only add instability. No, I will remain on the high council. ...Narvin will not be pleased he is now _no longer_ on the high council," he adds with a smirk.

"...Ah. Right. I forgot about that. I'll have to bring that up sooner rather than later; I'm sure he'll want me to find some loophole to bring him along." Romana turns away from the window. "I am glad you're back, Braxiatel," she says with a softer voice. "So are Leela and Narvin, in their own ways."

 .........

The nightmares are still there, and, if anything, they're worse. Romana wakes up in a bed she still finds unfamiliar, trying to forget the heat of fire and smoke that she felt so _clearly_ a moment ago. She keeps her eyes open, staring at a small blue light on the display next to her to remind her of where she is. With a deep breath she decides - screw it if it's a bad idea. Before she can change her mind she heads for the door and then crosses the CIA tower, but as she reaches for the outer door controls they slide open ahead of her.

She smiles. "Leela?"

"You cannot sleep either."

Romana sighs. "No. I was going to find you, actually."

"The Moros burned. I felt it, again."

"I know. I did too."

"This does not make _sense_ , Romana."

"Maybe we shouldn't want it to. Some paradoxes are better left unanswered."

"Braxiatel does not make sense either."

She smiles slightly. "In time, perhaps."

"Romana, if it is alright... I would like to stay. If the memories might stop..."

"Of course," she says quietly, and takes hold of Leela's hand. For a moment, there's something else, another echo-memory of a past she doesn't have, and it's fleeting enough that for the moment she can pretend it isn't there.

"Thank you," Leela murmurs, and Romana wants to say so much. That she could never have left her, never abandoned her, that she can't imagine her not being here now - but she doesn't say anything, and Leela follows her to the darkness of a room where they are safe, where there is no fire or smoke.

Leela is human, and her warmth is something Romana often forgets. Time Lords are cold, and she hasn't been this close to anyone in a long time. Leela curls up around her as they fall asleep, and something in Romana's mind quiets.

 .........

The next day is meetings, and structure, and schedules, and to be honest Romana isn't even certain where _she_ is meant to be at any given time, let alone keeping track of Brax or Leela. Narvin, at least, is close by, intent on any change she might make to _his_ agency. She actually finds it a bit endearing, though it would be more so if he wouldn't argue almost every point she made.

"May I remind you, _deputy_ coordinator, that your word is not final anymore?" she says once a logistics agent leaves the room.   
He glares at her. "Romana, things are the way they are here for a reason and you can't just go changing schedules and assignments without-" 

"I assure you that I _do_ know what the 'correct' procedures are," she says in exasperation. "What do you think I was _doing_ all of yesterday? I know exactly where our agents are assigned and _why_ and if I'm reassigning someone that means that I -" 

"But I -"

 _"Narvin."_

He's glaring at her again, and she has a sudden memory of years and years ago, shouting at each other over a council table, and she almost laughs.

"I understand what you're saying, I do," she says more quietly. "And I do care about past procedure. You know things about this agency that I can’t, not yet, things that only come from experience. But my leadership _is_ different from yours, and this is something we both know, and you're going to have to accept a few changes." 

He sighs. "I'm sorry. I know, I simply -"

"You care about your agency, about Gallifrey. I _know_ ." She smiles, and glances around the CIA tower in the ensuing silence. "The past few days have been..." 

"Challenging?"

"Well, you could say that."

"Do you have any more information on the singularity's collapse?"

Romana shakes her head. "No. Not yet, or, well, possibly not ever. There's no data - my Tardis was on Gallifrey, Brax's was in the Vortex at the time of collapse, and the Moros itself is completely gone. Our monitoring stations here are just not detailed enough."

"If we sent a Tardis back to nearby the Moros at the time of collapse -"

" _No._ I won't risk it. From what I do know, there are enough paradoxes - or, I suppose, resolutions of paradoxes - already." 

"Alright, alright." Narvin sighs and raises his hand to the back of his neck as he leans over the table. "We should make sure the rest of the Adherence of Ohm is really cleared out. I'll start with anyone who knew Tauras or Endrogan. I... I know this will take some adjustments, Romana. I didn't mean to imply that -"

"It's alright, Narvin." She pauses and narrows her eyes. "Are _you_ alright?" 

"Of course. I... haven't been sleeping, that's all." He picks up a few file pads and heads for the door. "I'll see you in three spans, before you meet with the President."

 ..........

The next night is easier. By unspoken agreement, Leela stays with her again, and the fires don't return in her dreams. A different image haunts her, this time - Narvin in a matrix data archive, his neck laced with strange burns. Why do all the echoes have to be of death?

When she wakes in the middle of the night, Leela is awake too. She doesn't ask what she sees in her dreams this time, just hides her face in Leela's shoulder and wills herself to forget.

 .........

Leela, not having anything else to attend to, stays in the CIA tower for most of the day. After a particularly bad argument between Romana and Narvin, over _furniture_ of all things, Leela steps in. 

"Why should it matter if the tower looks different? You are both being foolish."

"That's not the _point,_ " Narvin mutters, leaning on the table, and despite their discussion yesterday, Romana has started to lose any remaining optimism about running the agency. 

Leela abruptly takes hold of Narvin's hands and pulls him around to face her. 

_"What -"_

"As stubborn as you are, I have not seen you like this in a long time. I know that Romana has not been sleeping well; what is _your_ excuse?" 

Romana is about to object to that revelation, but Narvin gets there first. "I am perfectly capable of making decisions no matter how -"

"Narvin," Leela says.

He looks away and pulls himself out of her grasp. "Braxiatel said there are... echoes, of a reality that is no longer real. Seeing one of those echoes was more than enough. The less I sleep, the less I see."

He is out the door before Leela can catch him. "Narvin that is a very _stupid_ thing to do!" Leela calls after him as she follows. Romana sighs and sinks back down onto her chair.

 ......... 

Night's shadows fall across the tower as the last moon sets.

"Stay," Leela says quietly. "It helps." Romana looks up from the last few reports she's scanning through. Leela and Narvin hover by the door, something unspoken passing between them for a few heartbeats. Leela glances back at Romana, who smiles softly. Narvin finally relents.

With three of them now, Leela curls up between them. Narvin is hesitant to be too close and they fall asleep spread out, but by morning the three are tangled together and Romana feels calm in a way that she hasn't in months. The dreams barely reach them now.

 ..........

The night Braxiatel joins them, the dreams, the echoes, are long gone. At first, the pretense for keeping their arrangement beyond a few days was in case of the nightmares' return, but after a while, it simply was acknowledged that none of them wanted to leave. 

Brax never discussed his own echoes. Romana asked him once, and he declined to answer. In time, she almost forgot about her own, and she didn't press the subject.

This night is not about dreams.

Braxiatel is waiting by the window of the CIA tower when Romana walks in as the trailing sun sinks over the horizon after a council meeting. He turns to her and says, "Something is coming, Romana. I heard from... myself. A war is coming."

A chill washes over her, but she feels strangely calm. "Do you know when?" She asks quietly.

He shakes his head. "What I do know is that it is inevitable. The warning was not to avoid it, but to prepare. It has been in motion for a very long time now."

"What do we do?"

He smiles sadly. "We wait, for now. And we spend time with the people we care about."

Romana crosses the room and reaches for his hand. "We have a chance. You wouldn't have warned us if we didn't."

"Perhaps."

Silence grows.

"Romana, do you trust me?" He asks.

"Yes."

He almost looks surprised. 

"What do we have left now except trust, Brax?"

He doesn't reply, and they watch the second sunset until the stars rise.

When Romana turns away, she reaches out for him. "Will you stay?"

 .........

Narvin is ready enough to accept him, to Romana's surprise. Time has drained his anger with Braxiatel and left only the part glad to have him back.

Leela studies Brax for a moment, and then launches herself forward to wrap her arms around him. "I am sorry, Braxiatel. Forgive me? For... being distant."

"There is nothing to forgive," he replies, and for the first time in weeks Romana feels a ghost of that other timeline. Sadness and comfort intertwined. 

The four of them fall asleep in a world where it feels like this is what they were destined for all along. Their lives have been connected for so long that Romana thinks it makes so, so much sense now that she can see clearly. And for now, at least, she is at peace.


End file.
